This Is Halloween
by Corvus no Genmu
Summary: Mankind has done the ultimate taboo. They’ve crucified their Mother and seek to accelerate evolution for the price of souls. Elected by those who've come before, he will set in motion a prophecy not forseen even in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It's time to reap.
1. On The First Day

**Disclaimer:**I don't own Evangelion or any copyrighted characters. All fanfiction characters are my own.

**A/N: WARNING. WHILE NOT RATED M, THIS FIC MAY CONTAIN EVIL DEEDS DONE TO EVILER MEN/WOMEN.**

Bahamut: Basically, he's going to make Gendo wet himself before killing him.

Me: Not I said the fox. Take it away Pumpkin King!

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_**"The smile of the Witch, & the smile of the Cat,**_

**_The smile of the Beast, the smile of the Bat,_**

**_The smile of the Reaper taking his fee_**

**_All cut and glimmer on the Halloween Tree..."_ **

**— Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree**

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**This is Halloween**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_Contact Shall Be Made_

"Good morning class," said the teacher, what was his name? Several of the students, class representative included, didn't care to bother in remembering since the majority of the class-time was spent repetitively learning of the (false) history of Second Impact. "Today we are receiving a new student transferring all the way from England. Try to make him feel welcome. You can come in now Mr. Samhain."

The door to the classroom opened with a bang as a tall ghoulish looking figure stepped into the room. He was a few inches taller than one Touji Suzahara and had a build not unlike that of one Shinji Ikari. He was pale, even more so than Rei Ayanami, and he seemed almost dead with the large black bags underneath his eyes. He wore a pair of black fingerless gloves with a strange symbol adorning them and atop his head was a tophat that had seen better days. His hair was cut short though some of it did dangle in his eyes a bit. His eyes were a deep purple, almost black, and they seemed to draw those who looked into them into a dark pit with absolutely no escape within their strangely colored orbs.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?" suggested the teacher, ignorant of the edginess of his students from the boy's ethereal appearance.

The boy glanced at the teacher in silence before looking over the class. Smiling gently, he tilted his head and spoke in a voice of silk wrapped around a knife's edge. "Greetings little ones… I am Samhain Mortis."

A few hours later, during lunch hour, Shinji was silently eating his lunch as his two friends, Touji and Kensuke argued over which of the two, Rei or Samhain, appeared closer to being a ghost than a living person. Sighing, Shinji glanced over towards the albino girl only to find his view obstructed by another albino by the name of Samhain Mortis.

"Are you Shinji Ikari?"

"Eh?" Blue eyes blinked rapidly up at a pair of purple ones. "Uh, yes. Yes I am."

Samhain blinked and leaned in close to the boy, ignorant of his blush or the glowering glare from the redhead on the room's opposite side. "Third Child… Heh," Samhain leaned back and, smiling, shook his head. "Ironic that, but it fits nonetheless. The third time is the charm isn't it?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" growled an angry Asuka Sohryu. Samhain turned to her and inclined his head before smiling.

"Just as I said, Sohryu. The Third is the beginning and the end of it all but it is the Second that pushes him to do so isn't it? As I recall, was it not one Shinji Ikari who dove into that volcano, against orders and without any kind of protective armor, to save your life? You who calls him stupid, perverted, and weak? You whom he owes no such thing as sacrifice to yet he did so. He would have died for you then, Sohryu. He'll die for you again if you're not careful."

Both Eva pilots were blushing madly but for reasons all to their own while Samhain merely nodded and smiled as the school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and halting any further conversation but one question rang quietly within both their minds.

'_How does he know?_'

* * *

Deep in the underground of Tokyo-3, in the large and oblique grounds of the Geo-Front lied NERV headquarters where, at the moment, things were going smoothly. The recent loss and subsequent recovery of Eva Unit 01 from the last Angel attack had stirred much tribulations in the workings but as the peace stretched onwards and the day of the arrival of Unit 03 drew near so fell the tensions raised amongst the upper staff.

How quick that was to change.

It had started innocent enough in appearance, Maya had received an error message on her terminal sprung from a mistyped command perhaps. However, when the same message appeared on Hyuuga's and then Aoba's did Ritsuko Akagi began to wonder. Neither she nor Maya could track the error and the commanders above and behind them were getting irritated from the constant ringing of the error message popping up anew. It grew especially tiresome when the message appeared on the main projector screen and the ringing grew in volume until it abruptly cut itself off.

"Thank you, Dr. Akagi," sighed Sub-Commander Fuyutski, massaging his temples to relieve himself of his headache.

"Uh, that wasn't me…" Ritsuko looked at the terminal screens and saw static appearing in a seemingly random manner before appearing on the screen before them. Suddenly, images began to appear on the screens. Horrible, disgusting images of a finger pushing itself down upon a rusted nail, a mouth vomiting bloodied probes mixed with human hair, a body sinking in water filled with blood, people swimming beneath a sea of black velvet trying so desperately to free themselves, a box with a twitching dismembered right hand.

After those came more but these were not images of things or events but of people, monstrous people. A man with long hair as white as freshly fallen snow with all the regal bearing of a nobleman stood smiling as blackened fire blazed around him, the feathers of his one black wing fluttering in the heat. A pair, one male and one female, both hidden in shadows where dozens upon dozens of red gleaming eyes shined, staring in obvious fascination upon the horror of the bridge crew. A woman with strange red pigtails watched as a blazing inferno ignited the pale bodies of the dead that surrounded her. The last was a man who towered over the previous two but like all the rest, he was nothing close to being human for instead of a human head of flesh and bone there was a large vegetable resting atop a wooden neck whose perpetual feral grin and angry eyes were aglow with green fire. A hand made of long blades wet with freshly spilled blood held up a ornately carved hourglass and slowly turned it so that the sand began to run.

And then it spoke.

"**_SeVen DaYs…_**"

And it was gone.

* * *

Rei Ayanami walked slowly down the sidewalks towards the entrance to NERV in silence before stopping and glancing over her shoulder. Her red eyes narrowed the slightest margin at the whistling Samhain Mortis that walked not two steps behind her and halted when she did, staring at her inquisitively.

"Why are you following me?"

"Why shouldn't I be following you? Because you're going to enter a top-secret government facility the likes of which I couldn't possibly have clearance for?"

"… Yes."

"Right you are, lassie!" Samhain grinned and gave the albino a thumbs-up. "But I have myself a need to speak with you while speaking is easiest." Samhain glanced behind his shoulder. "At the moment, Section Two is a little bit… preoccupied."

Though she didn't show it, Rei felt herself go slightly on edge. She was scared and she could tell that, somehow, Samhain knew it. What scared her most wasn't that she felt a droplet of fear, it was that she didn't know why nor why it was that this boy, whom she had never met, was so familiar to her.

"What are you Rei Ayanami? Are you a living being, deserving all the rights that Life entails you or are you a doll whose strings are pulled by a genocidal madman who'd sooner crush mankind underneath his heel then let you live with a soul that you can't claim as your own. Oh wait," Samhain's grin turned positively feral. "That is what's he's planning isn't it? Genocide."

Rei stared at him impassively in silence and blinked when Samhain shook his head sadly and tutted in disappointment. "Still the puppet-doll, Ayanami? Waiting for strings to be pulled? JUMP, REI!" Rei did jump back but more in surprise. Samhain's voice had suddenly changed to a perfect copy of Commander Ikari's own.

"Fight for me, Rei. Destroy the Angels for me, Rei. Die for me, Rei." Samhain coughed and spoke in his voice once more. "When is it going to stop, Rei Ayanami? When will it be for you instead of him?"

Samhain paused and looked behind him, his strangely-colored eyes narrowing in annoyance before sighing and walking past the stunned First Child and away into a shadowed alleyway but before he disappeared into the darkness, Rei heard his silken voice whisper, "Tell him, Rei Ayanami… tell him ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for him…"

If one were to see the truth that laid trapped in Central Dogma, they would only see the monolithic titan that was crucified to the giant cross, her knees vanishing beneath a pool of her own blood. But had they looked closer, to the apex of the giant's cross, they would have seen a series of words etched onto the surface that could not be seen until now.

* * *

_On the First, Contact Shall Be Made…

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	2. On The Second Day

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Evangelion or any copyrighted characters. All fanfiction characters are my own.

**A/N: WARNING. WHILE NOT RATED M, THIS FIC MAY CONTAIN EVIL DEEDS DONE TO EVILER MEN/WOMEN.**

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**_"There are few who'd deny, at what I do I am the best  
For my talents are renowned far and wide  
When it comes to surprises in the moonlit night  
I excel without ever even trying  
With the slightest little effort of my ghostlike charms  
I have seen grown men give out a shriek  
With the wave of my hand, and a well-placed moan  
I have swept the very bravest off their feet  
I'm a master of fright, and a demon of light  
And I'll scare you right out of your pants" _**

**— Jack Skellington, Tim Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_**

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**This is Halloween**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_The Dead Shall Arise _

Samhain sighed wearily and fell back onto the couch with the tiredness of a man having just climbed a mountain and back again. He took his hat off and tossed it aside, scratching his slightly pointed ear with a clawed finger.

"I've quite forgotten how much trouble it is to help do all that. Must remember to thank Samara personally though, right genius she is."

"I gather it went according to plan then Thanatos?" Samhain turned a wearied eye to a tall Italian girl no older than fifteen approaching him with a cup of steaming drink in each hand. He accepted the cup and eyed her large black dress, he still couldn't understand how she managed to move around in such troublesome garment nor why she felt the need to wear such clothing but he didn't ask.

"Don't call me that, Robin," he sighed. "A relative, but nothing more and yes, NERV got the message. What they'll do with it is up to them and we can only wait until the Others finally agree."

"They are still arguing?" asked the girl, Robin, in confusion.

Samhain nodded and took a drink from his cup and smirked. "You've an angel's touch, Robin. Never have I had such wondrous coffee as this. As for the argument it has been answered. He Whom was your Light is gone and the Others are righteously pissed off. They've agreed for retribution but as for the punishment." The boy's smile turned savage. "They're arguing over who has the right over the souls."

"I see…"

Samhain shook his head and sighed, "Robin, do not let it trouble you so. The Pearly Gates to His realm are still open for your return. You'll be allowed back with little misdeed."

"But His ear is no longer turned towards those left alive, is it not?"

"No." Samhain took a generous drink of his coffee. "Mankind has done the ultimate taboo, Robin. They've taken their Mother and crucified her much like they had done to His Son. He could forgive them for that for they were young then and vastly divided by what they believed to be the Truth, but man is older and much more cruel than it was. The Dark Ages reign anew in this time on a different scale but you can feel it can't you? It's why so few soulshave been born these past years. It's gone.

"Jehovah's light is gone."

* * *

"So have you been able to figure out who sent the video yet?" asked Misato as she took a generous swig of her coffee, her eyes never leaving her report of the events from the previous day.

"No," sighed an exhausted Ritsuko. "We've looked through everything from internet connections to pre-Second Impact data links and not a trace of the damn thing. Hell, the Magi don't even recall every seeing the damn thing and it originated from them to begin with!" Misato blinked in surprise and backed away from the bottle-blond who was smoking up a storm in her aggravation.

"Whoa, calm down, Ritsu. It's just a prank isn't it? Probably some hacker's sick idea of a joke or something…"

Ritsuko gave the purple-haired woman a stare that would have made Gendo Ikari proud were he actually capable of feeling emotions. "Misato, don't be an idiot. Not even I could hack past the numerous firewalls, viruses, and the Magi themselves without drawing at least some attention to myself. This guy did it without a trace and disappeared the same way. Combine this with the cross-synchro test we have scheduled for Rei and Shinji later to today, you can imagine how I must be feeling."

Misato winced and glanced down at her cup, sighing. "So I take it that it's not just a prank then?"

"You do remember what I told you right?" Ritsuko massaged her temples, trying to relieve her headache some. "Those gory images and the strange people… and that scarecrow's words."

"Seven days. But… what happens in seven days?"

"Actually," Ritsuko typed a command on her computer. "If we were to take the video's words seriously… it would be nearly six. As for what happens, take a look for yourself."

Misato leaned down and gazed into the monitor before dropping her cup in shock. "What the hell? You've got to be kidding me."

* * *

Samhain glared at the old man that was supposed to be teaching him and his classmates. Teaching what exactly, Samhain didn't care to bother remembering but he had a vauge idea that modern curriculam demanded something more out of history than fifteen years prior. He knew he would be taking the piss for this but, damn it, he was bored out of his mind and was eager for what would be delivered tonight at his flat. 

"Excuse me!" Samhain raised his hand when the teacher, paused for breath.

"Yes?"

"Can I teach the class for a while? You're boring." asked Samhain, heedless of the shocked gasps from his classmates.

"Mister Mortis!" exclaimed Hikari, "I don't know how they talk to teachers in England, but that's not how we do things here!" 

"Oh come on, Class Rep." Samhain sighed. "This guy is a broken record. _Second Impact this, Second Impact that._ Why don't we actually learn something useful for once?"

The teacher raised a gray eyebrow at that. He was being paid for his 'broken record' lectures by NERV itself but even he had to admit that, large sums of money aside, he was getting bored with himself. Besides, NERV never said he couldn't have a student teach the class… '_Oh what the hell, kid might just be interesting…_'

"Well Mister Mortis, if you're so sure you can actually teach us something of value… then please, do so." The teacher sat at his desk and waved at the chalkboard. Samhain blinked in surprise but suddenly smiled like a child who just found out today was his unbirthday.

"Alright." Samhain walked up to the front of the room and glanced over his classmates before taking a deep breath. "LISTEN UP!" Everyone, the teacher included, snapped up at Samhain's sudden harsh and guttural voice. "I ain't gonna let you pansies die cause o' your own dimwitted actions but I ain't gonna repeat myself either. So sit up, shut up, and listen up!"

Samhain coughed and smiled, speaking in his voice. "Ahem. Anyway, let's get started shall we? Let's discuss something that's coming up in the next week.

"It's called a Hunter's Moon."

* * *

Samhain ate his sandwich silently as he gazed down at the school grounds. '_Well, part of the tale has been told and, with a bit of luck, I just might get to part three before Bardiel shows up. Damn arrogant bastards, the whole lot of them but I understand their rage. It doesn't make matters any better that every damned fool calls Her Lillith instead of—_'

"Mortis-san."

"What have I said about calling me that?" muttered the boy, "I said I feel old enough already, I don't need reminders is what I said, I'm sure of it, and yet I find myself surrounded by people who either care too much about propriety or they just don't give a damn." Samhain sighed and looked over his shoulder at his visitor, who looked a bit sheepish. "What is it, Shinji? Do you have a question about my lesson?"

"Um… actually… I have a question about yesterday…"

"… And that is…?" asked Samhain at the lack of further communiqué from the boy.

"… What did you mean… when you you said to Asu… When you said that it's ironic that I'm the Third Child?"

Samhain's smirk grew devious as he eyed the boy. "I'll ignore the actual question and answer it's cover for now. Shinji, tell me, do you remember what your mother did? For NERV I mean."

"She… she helped create the Evas."

Samhain shook his head. "You really don't remember do you? No, of course you wouldn't, you were too young in mind to understand what was occurring around you, to comprehend the horror of it. No Shinji, she didn't just create the Evangelions she's—" Samhain stopped short and glared past Shinji's shoulder. "Those fools again… I'm sorry Shinji but I'm afraid that our discussion must be cut short for now but I can offer you something."

Samhain stood and tossed his half-eaten sandwich into the air where a waiting raven snatched it away. Samhain moved to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Shinji and, facing the opposite way of the boy's own eyes, the pale foreigner whispered, "When next you practice your synchronization tests inside the Evangelions… specifically Unit 01… call it by your mother's name. I'm sure something will happen. However, perhaps it will be too much for you to do that… it will mean opening a door that can never be closed Shinji. Perhaps… yes, if you are training inside Unit 00… call it Naoko and introduce yourself as the son of Gendo Ikari."

Samhain started to walk away when Shinji's whispered question stopped him just short of the stairs. "What door…?"

"The door," said Samhain, grinning at Shinji's obvious surprise at being heard, "to your destiny, Third Child."

* * *

"So how does Unit 00 feel, Shinji?" asked Misato, a teasing lit to her voice.

"It… it smells like Ayanami… that's all…"

"Is that all, Shinji?" asked a tired Ritsuko, massaging the bridge of her nose for the tenth time in so many minutes. '_First the video-hack and now the Third Child's sync ratio is bouncing all over the place in Unit 00. God, what next?_' She could feel the eyes of the Commander glaring down upon the back of her head where he sat above and behind her with the Sub-commander standing beside him as usual.

"Well… I… I want to try something…"

"Go ahead, Shinji," sighed Ritsuko. "Otherwise Asuka will really have a reason to gloat…"

Shinji ignored the comment to his roommate and closed his eyes slowly and took a slow breath. "Um, Unit 00…" The Third Child whispered quietly lest the microphones with the plug would catch it and draw much unwanted attention at Shinji's strange experimentation. Blushing faintly, and feeling rather ridiculous at what he was attempting, Shinji murmured, "Naoko… my name is Shinji… Shinji Ikari… I'm the son of Gendo Ikari."

The response, was all too quick for the young pilot.

**"GENDO! GENDO IKARI!"**

"Aaaaugh!"

Metal restraints began to strain

"What's happening?!" exclaimed Ritsuko.

"We've got a problem on the pilot's nerve pulse! It's fluctuating too quickly!" cried a female tech.

"Detecting massive amounts of mental contamination coming from—" Maya cut herself off, her eyes widening in shock.

"From what?!" exclaimed Misato. "Where's it coming from? An Angel?"

"No, it's… it's coming from Unit 00!"

The blue-painted Evangelion twisted jerkily before pulling itself free from its restraints, its hands clutching painfully at its head before its singular optic eye focused upon the reinforced glass of the the lab. It froze and for a brief moment, those in the lab-room had thought that whatever had caused the disturbance in the Eva had been removed.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

Two monstrously large fists slammed on the glass, creating several large cracks as the Eva's eye began to glow a glistening white. A deep, feral growl echoed out from the Eva's speakers until a harshly psychotic woman's voice shrieked, **"GEEEEEEEENNNNNDOOOOOOOO!!!"**

Everyone was stunned by the voice, so much so that none thought of ejecting the Eva's umbilical cable. However, none were as surprised as Ritsuko Akagi for though the voice was slightly mechanized, she recognized it instantly for what it was even as it continued to scream, **"You took my work, my sanity, my life from me, and you dare to try and take away my daughter into your twisted dreams of reclaiming that damned woman, Ikari! I won't let you drag her down into hell with you! I'll die again before I let anything happen to Ritsuko!"**

Already ashen-faced, Ritsuko's skin lost all complexion as she stared in horrorfied shock at the Evangelion prototype. "Mother?"

Before anything more could be done or said, several of the computer terminals began flashing red, the word "WARNING" flickering white against the blood colored hue of the danger lights as Unit 00's umbilical cord began to spark with electricity.

"What's happening now?" demanded Misato.

"Unit 00's umbilical cable, the energy flow is reversing itself! It's draining Unit 00's power!" exclaimed Makoto.

"That's impossible!" exclaimed Ritsuko, pushing her scientific mind forward to gain self-control. "The umbilical cables aren't even built to accomplish such a thing!"

"That's just it, Doctor!" Maya typed away at her terminal, her eyes never leaving the screen. "The energy isn't going anywhere but out of the Eva!"

"Ten seconds to complete shutdown…" muttered a male tech.

**"I'll never let that doll in me every again, Ikari! NEVER! I'll kill her over and over if I have to but I won't be a part of your—"** Unit 00 slumped forward, its head slamming against the wall as its body fell noisily to its knees.

Everyone of the tech crew let out a breath before looking towards Ritsuko. The bottle-blond's hand was once more massaging the bridge of her nose while the other was opening and closing a lighter. "Recover the pilot and find out just what the hell happened in there."

"And the umbilical cable, Sempai?" asked Maya.

"Track it down, I want to know just how the damn thing was able to reverse itself." The clicking of the lighter was faster now and most of the techs exchange nervous glances before departing to do their tasks. Both Gendo and Fuyutski had long since left.

"Ritsu…" said Misato, her hand reaching up to touch her friend's shoulder. "Are you going to be alright…?"

"…" Ritsuko ignored the hand on her shoulder and pulled out a cigarette from the inside of her labcoat. "Shouldn't you be more concerned over your charge, Major Katsuragi?"

Misato removed her hand and frowned but took the unspoken hint and departed the lab where only Ritsuko now stood silently smoking, her eyes focused on the cycloptic Unit 00. The sound of water dripping to the floor echoed in the large lab-room.

"Damn it…"

* * *

"Is that it?"

Samhain stared incredulously at the blonde woman beside him. "You're joking right? There's enough energy in this crystal to power all of Tokyo-3 for a week straight."

The woman frowned and leaned forward to better see the small diamond shaped emerald, her gleaming red eyes narrowing. "But it's so… small…"

Samhain smirked and placed the crystal back in its box before turning to face his two newest housemates, though such a word would be a stretch for them both. It had taken a lot of digging, both literally and figuratively, to find them and even then, it took more than a little bit of bribery to gain the cooperation of the eldest of the duo.

"Great things come in small packages. I'm not as powerful as you may think of me, Miss Victoria. I have few who are aware of me and fewer who Believe. Whatever strength I use before the Release is being loaned to me by the others and only enough to gain what is needed, you both being prime examples of this arrangement."

A pair of red eyes shined behind a pair of amber glasses. "When will this release take place, Master?"

Samhain couldn't help but smile at the man's use of decorum though he needn't had bothered. Still, it was nice to be called recognized properly by those under his status quo. "In six days. But tell me, why is it that now, after learning what is to come and what shall be passed, are you so eager? You're part is needed but not as grand as to your liking, so why?"

The man chuckled and brought his large silver handgun to his llips. "Why? You ask 'why', Pagan? There are only four who've ever thought of trying to throw Undead into actual combat before. One is you. One is dead herself. One is them. And one is me."

Samhain's grin matched the man's own and he laughed darkly. "A response all too fitting for the No-Life King."

* * *

If one were to see the truth that laid trapped in Central Dogma, they would only see the monolithic giant that was crucified to a cross, her knees vanishing beneath a pool of her own blood as pale hair fell past still shoulders. But had they looked closer, to the apex of the giant's cross, they would have seen a series of words etched onto the surface that could not be seen until now.

* * *

_On the First, Contact Shall Be Made…_

_On the Second, The Dead Will Arise _

* * *

In a room hidden to all but a single man, a frozen form began stirred just the slightest bit and only for a singular moment. The crack, so infinitely small to the naked eye, spread itself further.

Freedom, was just six days away.

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	3. On the Third Day

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Evangelion or any copyrighted characters. All fanfiction characters are my own.

**A/N: WARNING. WHILE NOT RATED M, THIS FIC MAY CONTAIN EVIL DEEDS DONE TO EVILER MEN/WOMEN.**

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**_"Estuans interius  
ira vehementi  
Estuans interius  
ira vehementi_**

**_Sors immanis  
Et inanis  
Sors immanis  
Et inanis" _**

**— One-Winged Angel, Final Fantasy VII**

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**This is Halloween**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_The One-Winged Angel Will Fly Once More_

Blood.

Some could call it a power unlike any other. To those who relish in its consumption, they call it the milk of the world, but it is the blood of prey that makes it so deliciously sweet.

To those who command power, blood is a tribute, to be paid for something of equal and sometimes even greater power. With every drop comes more strength and with every drop does their heart and soul begin to wither and die.

However, to those who are above such things as drink and power, whose strength is only rivaled by they whom oppose them, blood is something entirely different. Blood is… a connection… It is blood that feeds, it is blood that strengthens, and it is blood that connect they who have no need to feed upon it, no strength needed to be gained, that connect themselves to us through our blood.

To one pale-skinned boy, blood was something else entirely different.

* * *

"It's disgusting." 

Samhain gasped for air as he leaned heavily against the toilet of his bathroom, the hour long since past the middle night and dawn soon approaching. The pain was stronger now; the burning sensation near blinding and, in an attempt to soothe the pain, the British boy had drunk a simple glass of milk but immediately found himself racing into the bathroom and found himself staring into a bowl of red.

Wearily, he flushed the toilet and watched with impassionate disinterest as the sullied water vanished downwards, taking away pieces of his inner organs with it. Raising his left hand, Samhain saw claws now marring his fingers much like his right had the previous day. Standing shakily, he moved to stand beside the mirror and grunted at the sight of himself. If he was pale before, he had no words to describe himself now and the rings under his eyes were near obsidian in color.

"It's accelerating…" Samhain pressed a finger to his lips, feeling a slight sharp edge underneath the warm skin. "But can I hold this shape in time?"

Samhain paused and glanced at his window and saw a swarm of spiders crawling around it. Sighing, Samhain opened it and waited patiently as the spiders moved within the bathroom and meshed themselves together to resemble a spider the size of a large dog.

"Well? What is it?"

The spider(s) began to make a strange series of gestures and chittering noises that echoed in the enclosed room. Samhain frowned, his eyes narrowing. "She did huh? And the Third Child?" The spider(s) responded with more gestures and a single chatter. "What?" Samhain's eyes widened slightly. "The hospital? Why?" Another gesture. "The plug didn't eject. Botheration, I should have realized she would have wanted to get back at Gendo through Shinji." Samhain glared down at the spider swarm and nodded his thanks. "Continue your surveillance on the inside of the Geofront, but this time, follow Rokubungi. I don't trust him and with the First in his hands, it only makes matters worse.

"So I leave it to you all to protect Adam at all costs."

* * *

Blue eyes reminiscent of the sea slowly opened before focusing upon a all-too-familiar ceiling of tiles white enough to be near blinding. The bloodlike smell of the LCL mingled with the near inhuman smell of the hospital room and the boy found himself uttering a single sentence to answer to his newest predicament. "I hate this ceiling…" 

"I imagine that you would, having seen it so often. That and white is such a dreadful color to look at after a while. The rainbow may be hidden within it, but that doesn't make it any less boring than it already is."

Shinji turned his head and blinked in surprise to see Samhain sitting beside his bed, his nose buried in a book. Turning a page, Samhain continued to speak, "That and the gods know how often you've been in here and believe me when I say that I can understand your hatred. However, that doesn't make me any less sorry for what I've done though it was necessary."

Confused, Shinji asked, "What did you…?"

Samhain slowly closed his book and turned his head to face the Eva pilot. "I opened a door by using you as a key, and for that I am sorry, Shinji Ikari."

"Sorry? For what?" asked Shinji, even more confused by the foreigner's words. "I… don't remember what happened…"

"You heeded my advice and you spoke to Unit 00. You called her by her true name and gave her reason to hate you and renew her hatred towards Rei Ayanami. By doing that, you've opened more doors than was needed but still necessary Shinji Ikari."

"I did what… exactly? What happened after I talked to Unit 00?"

"You've… awakened that which had laid dormant in the Eva since her activation test with Rei." Samhain smiled and set his book down upon Shinji's lap before standing and heading towards the door. "But that is a story I'm afraid must wait for a time where such… lies I assume you would them, yes lies fits it so much doesn't it? It will have to wait until then my friend."

Samhain pulled open the sliding door and paused. He looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Yes, you are a friend, Shinji Ikari." Stepping through the door and closing it behind him, walked away, his footsteps echoing in the silence of the corridor. Watching the door in silence for a long moment, Shinji sighed wearily and laid back down on his bed, slowly beginning to fall back into the arms of unconsciousness. Had he remained awake, the Third Child would have undoubtedly noticed the book that his visitor had left sitting on the bed beside his right hand.

It was entitled, Advent Children.

* * *

Turning a corner, Samhain ignored the lithe form of the dog suddenly walking beside him, spiked collar gleaming in the artificial lights of the hospital. 

"Shouldn't you be resting?" asked Samhain. The dog glanced up at him, bloodied eyes narrowed.

_"What is that girl to you?" _

"A… anomaly. The soul is not hers by right but I've never embraced anyone twice and aside from those residing within the Evangelions, I've never had a soul escape from me."

_"You know what you will have to do, so why bother with this act of Light." _

"What WE, have to do, Tepes." Samhain's eyes glowed green and his complexion turned positively sickly for the briefest of moments. "As for this mask… it will be off in five days."

"_For every day that passes you grow weaker, Master. I can feel it._"

Samhain stopped short of the elevator door and looked down into the ruby eyes of the dog. "Death. Is only the beginning. My Elder Brother taught me that. Do not worry so, No-Life King. I will be ready for what is to come." The elevator pinged and its doorway opened. "You should know, he may want to… test the level of our strength and should he feel that desire, I will have to ask that you serve in my name, Alucard." The dog grinned and made a barking laugh as Samhain stepped inside the elevator with the canine following on his heels.

"_Perfect. A battle unlike any other before. Two genuine monsters! Let him come!_"

Samhain grinned. "Going down."

* * *

The reddish gates opened with a clan, revealing the interiors of a device from the above plane of existence. Those demon and devils not too in-depth with their business of souls immediately took notice of the two standing inside the device but did not attempt to step into their path. One was a soul in a corpse kept alive through the centuries by the consumption of blood and who would have easily fallen prey to the hellfires that burned the landscape were it not for his companion. He too wore a husk but a shadow of the Truth stood as a blackened shield around him, telling those foolish enough to even think of an attempted attack to back away in fear. 

The two walked down the pathways in silence, one eyeing the surroundings like a tourist in a strange yet wondrous landscape, smiling at the occasional recognized tortured soul. The other, walked on in silence, ignoring the faces of the damned and the demons that laid waste upon their souls. The pair soon stopped before a large and seemingly never-ending pit the likes of which gave chills to the soul within the corpse.

"He is down there."

"Which he?" asked the Shadowed One. "The he whom we seek or one of the Lords of this realm."

"Is this fear that I feel?" murmured Soul-within-the-Corpse.

"It should not be that surprising," said the Shadowed One. "He Who Fell From Grace lies frozen in hellion ice down in the center of this pit of despair and agony." He spared a glance to his companion. "However, he is not down there. The method in which he was killed rendered his soul into dust but the pieces, so minute, were still sent to this realm."

"So how do we gain his aid? Shall we speak to the winds?"

"The wind that we feel is his wings straining for freedom and that sound the voice of his anger and pain tough all three of his mouths are full with the most damned of souls." The Shadowed One spoke. "It is here where the energies of this realm are at their peak and it will be here where his… resurrection will occur."

The Shadowed One began to make strange intricate designs in the air and the Soul-within-the-Corpse watched with mild fascination as great plumes of hellfire circled high above the pit as tiny pinpricks of light began to condense together beneath the ring of hellfire as strange latinic music began to play upon the winds. The lights began to grow brighter and brighter until a silent explosion occurred with the hellfire ring.

"It is to my understanding that you've been looking for me?"

The Shadowed One stared up at the imposing soul before him. "Expecting surprise from me will cost you more than what you're willing to pay."

"Oh?" The soul glared down at the Shadowed One's right hand where a black-feathered rightwing that twitched in the clawed fingers of the Shadowe One. "It seems I've paid already hasn't it. What do you want?"

"I don't want anything. I am merely in need of your assistance for something."

The soul spared a glance at the Soul-with-the-Corpse, who grinned in sadistic glee. "You have help already, if what I see is true. What could something like you wish something of me?"

"You know what I am and you know what limitations bind me. The same limitations that now bind you."

His eyes narrowed dangerously, glowing faintly of emerald. "What do you want?"

"You have power," said the Shadowed One, raising a clawed hand to reveal a diamond shaped gem so deep an emerald it was almost black. "You have the necessary strength to not only summon it but control that which lies here within this crystal."

"An Esper? Is that all?" He sounded bored, but the Shadowed One knew he was interested.

"No mere Esper. This one was made from all of my family and is charged by the power of the Angels. His only rival is Zero, whom you know cannot be bested even by the likes of me."

"So, you want me to be your puppet master."

"Only for tommorrow's battle and even then, controlling this Esper will not be easy even with Jenova's blood in your veings once more. You will fight, but only when the time is right."

"And when I fight, just who, or should I be saying what, will bleed upon my sword?"

"An army of men deluded enough to play the role of gods."

"Then why should I help you? Maybe I will betray you and join them."

"Because I will give you what you want. The one fight you want most in all the worlds. One more battle between you and your opposer. Darkness against Light."

The man's eyes narrowed but he slowly began to smile. "So if I join you, you'll return me to my world, with the promise of a battle between myself and Cloud. Fine then, I accept."

"On your sword," said the Shadowed One, gleaming eyes narrowed in distrust. "Swear it upon your sword and don't even try to lie. Lying here will only make things worse for you."

The man glared angrily at the Shadowed One but suddenly began to laugh darkly. "I just may end up liking you, Pagan." The man raised his long katana upwards so that its tip pointed towards the sky. "On Masamune do I swear to you to call when you need of me, to ask what you will of me. My sword, my service, are yours.

"So swears Sephiroth."

* * *

_On the First, Contact Shall Be Made…_

_On the Second, The Dead Will Arise _

_On the Third, The One-Winged Angel Will Fly Once More _

_

* * *

_


	4. On the Fourth Day

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Evangelion or any copyrighted characters. All fanfiction characters are my own.

**A/N: WARNING. WHILE NOT RATED M, THIS FIC MAY CONTAIN EVIL DEEDS DONE TO EVILER MEN/WOMEN.**

**

* * *

**

**_"Please allow me to introduce myself _**

I'm a man of wealth and taste

I've been around for a long, long years

Stole many a man's soul and faith" 

**— Guns N' Rose's, Sympathy for the Devil**

**

* * *

**

**This is Halloween**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_The Devil's King Shall Soar _

In geo-synchronous orbit, high above the Earth, a lone satellite named Angelus-0 was the only witness to the sudden flare of energy in the Nevada region of the United States. It recorded precisely seven seconds of the event before it was silenced by a thin beam of energy that rendered it in two and sent both halves to drift forever in the coldness of space.

In NERV headquarters, almost every alarm went off at the same time.

Three minutes later, Makoto was on one of the red phones, "…Look, I don't care if you're kid is turning twenty, Hughes! Is the first branch is ok? What? No, never mind!" He hung up the phone, turning to the command dais, "It's confirmed: America's NERV branch has completely disappeared."

Within twenty minutes, all of the key people associated with the E project were assembled in one of the briefing rooms deep within Central Dogma.

"Oh my God…" Ritsuko whispered quietly, reviewing the data. The energy output alone was nearly half of that which was involved in Second Impact.

Aoba looked at the printed readout in his hands, "The time frame indicates that they would have been in the process of testing and installing the experimental S2 engine from the German branch."

Maya spoke up, "The Magi indicate possible causes ranging from insufficient structural capacity to a miscalculation in the fabrication process. In total, thirty-two thousand, seven hundred and sixty-eight possibilities."

"And that's not including sabotage." Misato muttered angrily.

"Unit 04, its support group, and everything within an eighty-nine kilometer radius was destroyed… along with thousands of people." Ritsuko summed up, bowing her head.

"But they didn't blow up… they just – vanished, correct?" Hyouga wondered aloud.

Ritsuko turned to him, "That's just it. Looking at the video feed from the satellite, it almost looks like a minature black hole had been created and subsequentially collapsed all in a matter of six seconds."

Maya spoke once more, "The Magi calculate a two percent chance of anything from the branch returning on it's own, and that's just returning at all."

Ritsuko's eyebrows rose, "Two whole percent? How generous."

Maya smiled, a little sickly, "Since Unit 01 returned, the Magi felt there was precedence."

Ritsuko nodded, "That makes sense… now on the subject of the children."

Misato spoke quickly, "I don't think it would be wise to tell them about this… it could adversely affect them, especially Shinji."

Ritsuko arched an eyebrow, "You're awfully concerned about Shinji's well-being, Major. Besides, I thought you said he has recovered from yesterday's incident?"

Misato flushed, "Well, I AM his guardian… and he IS better…" '_A lot better after that Mortis kid visited him apparently… And those idiots of Section Two still can't tell me jack-shit about him!_' she thought with an internal frown, "but he's still a sensitive child. If he learned that one of the Evangelions was destroyed, along with thousands of people…" she trailed off, unsure of how to finish.

Maya came to her rescue, "It would worry him, wouldn't it? He would start to think that the same thing could happen here. Am I right?"

Ritsuko nodded, "Very well. Keep it from them if you will, but Rei will be informed."

Misato was confused, "Why does Rei—"

Ritsuko cut her off, a touch of anger in her voice, "You deal with your charges, Major, allow me to deal with mine."

There was an awkward silence, broken by Aoba's polite cough, "Well," he said, "I should get back to my post and see if any new information has come in."

The others saluted and made their way from the room.

In his private sanctum underneath the glimmering tree of Sephiroth, Commander Gendo Ikari of NERV watched in silence as the American branch was destroyed as well as Angelus-1. Pausing it just a millisecond short of the satelitte's termination, Gendo glared down at the image of a blade of glimmering light being held by a man with long hair as white as snow and flying through the vacuum of space on the feathers of a single black wing.

* * *

"I told you to test your control, Sephiroth." Samhain growled angrily, gripping the writhing wing in his hand like a vice. "I never said anything about testing his power. You only have enough power in that crystal to summon him once more and then that's it. He shan't be summoned again for another hundred years." 

The man shrugged dispassionately. "I merely wanted to know what he could do. It doesn't do a warrior any good to be told his blade is unbreakable only for it to crack in its first sign of actual battle does it."

"We're not talking about swords here, Sephiroth. Disobey me again," snarled Samhain, his eyes alight like miniature suns, "and I'll scatter your soul to every single pit of hell there is."

Sephiroth smiled coldly down at the younger boy and said, "You can't do anything to me, Pagan. I don't believe in you."

Samhain flinched and stepped back from the man before growling and grasping the black-feathered wing in both hands. "Be that as it may, I still have this and while its not actually in your blood anymore…" Samhain painfully twisted the wing and watched as Sephiroth let out a surprised gasp and fall to his knees. "You still feel her pain. I'll kill her first before I rip your soul to shreds, Son of Jenova. But then, you won't have much of one by then will you?"

The platinum haired man growled angrily but remained on his knees. "I will keep my word… so long as you keep yours…

"Pagan Death."

* * *

"Four minutes to activation… you ok?" Misato looked at the image of Touji on the monitor and decided he looked distinctly pale. 

He smiled and looked at the camera, managing to hide most of his unease behind his smile, "Yeah... just hungry..."

Misato laughed. She had watched the boy eat enough for three people less than two hours previous, "Just a little while longer. Hang in there."

He gave her a more honest smile, "Thanks, Misato, I'll try." He took some calming breaths and ran through what he was to do in the next few minutes. Misato's voice echoed in his mind, '_Once the unit becomes active, just look around._' She had turned her head from side to side, '_like this. The EVA will respond and turn its head too. After that, we'll just keep it active long enough to get a few readings, then we'll go home. I'll even buy dinner, k?_'

"Sixty seconds," Misato's voice brought him back to the present, "remember the breathing exercises… close your eyes…"

"First and second stage connections are online," a pretty technician to Misato's right said quietly, "primed for third stage connection on your mark."

Ritsuko spoke firmly, "Third stage connection in forty seconds," to Misato she said, "he's calmer than I would have expected."

Misato looked at her and shrugged, " He's different from the other pilots. Unlike Shinji, he isn't morally opposed to violence, unlike Rei, he's open and talkative, and unlike Asuka, he's humble about his skills. Essentially, he'll do what is necessary, when it is necessary. He is the perfect pilot candidate."

Ritsuko thought it over carefully, "Good thing we got him, then, isn't it? Ten seconds."

Touji concentrated on opening his mind. He imagined himself as an empty glass… then as a blank notebook… then an empty box. The box made him frown, '_Hikari! Shit, I totally forgot I agreed to have lunch with her today…_' as his thoughts shifted to the girl, Evangelion Unit 03 went online.

He gasped, '_This…_' he put a hand to his head, '_this hurts… There's something..._' his thoughts started to fade, '_someone's… here…_'

He faintly heard screaming as darkness folded its soft wings around him.

* * *

Asuka brought her Evangelion to a stop, crouching behind a small hill, '_This should do,_' she thought, preparing herself for the upcoming combat. She hoisted the oversized rocket launcher onto one shoulder of Unit 02, and waited. She shivered, thinking of the reported size of the explosion at Matsushiro.

"Misato," she whispered, "I hope you're ok…" Though she'd never admit it aloud, she did care for her guardian. Even if she was a drunkard, slob, lazy, bad-at-cooking, etc…

Shinji's voice came over the private channel, "Asuka? Anything yet?" The concern in his voice made her feel warm but she shoved it down.

"Nothing yet, baka, keep your pants on." She could almost hear his blush and her eyes flickered to the small monitor screen that showed his face. He had just been released from the hospital earlier that morning and now, again, he was being forced to pilot.

"B-be careful, ok?" Asuka felt her face glow a faint pink but huffed arrogantly.

"I'm always careful. Remember, I'm the one piloting the final model, Third Child." She smiled, but it quickly faded as the target came into view. '_Mein Gott…_' she thought, '_I… I don't know if I can do it…_'

Shinji's surprised voice came to her, "That's our target?"

Gendo's voice responded firmly, "That is correct."

Shinji hesitated, "It may be an angel… but it's also an Eva… which means there is a pilot inside, isn't there? A child my age."

Asuka's mind raced as the beast slowly approached her, "You mean you still don't know!? The pilot of Unit 03 is—" she was cut off as the black EVA lowered its head and charged her.

* * *

"Any time now would be prime, Sephiroth." Samhain watched as Bardiel leaped forward and smashed into Unit 02. '_My how violent Angels can be._' 

Sephiroth didn't bother to spare a glance at the boy and put all his attention into the small crystal floating above his raised palm. Sephiroth's eyes were narrowed as he glared down at the crystal, ignoring its rising glow. "Come to me, oh creature of ashen wings. Come to me as my Messenger and let us together drink in the joy of battle. Come! Diablos!"

The crystal vanished in an explosion of light and silence reigned between the two as multitudes of bats flew high overhead and gathered high above the Evangelions and Bardiel, who immediately took notice of the sudden spike of power and ceased his attack of the now comatose Unit 02 to stare upwards togethers the sudden black sky alongside Unit 01.

The bats melded together into a massive globe of pure darkness the size of semi-auto truck in diameter. The globe pulsed like a circular heart as a tall and imposing shape slowly bled out from beneath it. Wings as of obsidian and blood spread themselves wide as a grinning devil gaze down upon the two Evangelions beneath it. Laughing maniacally, the devil flew downwards, claws raised and struck deep into one of Bardiel's eyes, earning a scream of pain from the possessed Unit 03. Not wasting a moment in his flight, the Diablos twisted in midair and rent the harsh webbings of the entry plug asunder and tossed the plug far away, ignoring it loud and echoing crash and flew back up towards the ashen sky to rest underneath the black orb.

The Diablos grinned in pure delight as Bardiel roared challenge to him and the Diablos responded in kind by screeching the sounds of banshee's call and raising his right arm high, beams of power erupting from his elbow to bring the orb of darkness down. Glancing down at Bardiel, the Diablos spoke two simple words.

"**DARK MESSENGER.**"

The resulting explosion was a mirror copy of that which had occurred no more than twelve hours ago and proved to be just as devastating. The entire area with nothing but flattened ground and several hills had large circular gashes tearing deep into their sides. The Diablos flew down to where the Angel Bardiel once stood and, upon finding not a single remaining piece of the black Eva, cackled with delight and vanished like ash upon the winds.

* * *

Samhain glared up at the smirking Sephiroth. "I paid my deed." Spoke the Jenova-spawn. "Now pay yours." 

"A deal is a deal," said Samhain, grasping the taller man's hand tightly. "But a bargain is a bargain, Sephiroth. I had intended to send you back body and soul, but I find my mind made different by your disobedient actions. If I hadn't had Alucard transport Unit 02 away from that blast, you would have killed the Second Child and ruined what I and the Others are trying to accomplish. For disobeying me once more, you will return…

"In pieces."

Sephiroth's eyes widened as his body exploded into three distinctly green fragments of light that shot heavenwards and faded away into the sky.

Samhain sighed wearily and sat down with a thump, ignoring the sounds of guns being cocked behind his head.

"Only three more days…" he whispered to himself as rough hands forced him to his feet and metallic gun barrels urged him onwards. "Only three more days…"

* * *

_On the First, Contact Shall Be Made…_

_On the Second, The Dead Will Arise _

_On the Third, The One-Winged Angel Will Fly Once More _

_On the Fourth, The Devil's King Shall Soar_

_

* * *

_


	5. On the Fifth Day

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Evangelion or any copyrighted characters. All fanfiction characters are my own.

**A/N: WARNING. WHILE NOT RATED M, THIS FIC MAY CONTAIN EVIL DEEDS DONE TO EVILER MEN/WOMEN.**

**

* * *

**

**_"You destroyed the future with your past  
Forgot the lesson of the test  
You never understood the blessed  
Too bad today will be your last _**

So now watch as I rise  
To a whole new height  
And my mad battle cry  
Will be heard all night." 

**— Yu-Gi-Oh! Pyramid of Light, Shadow Games**

**

* * *

**

**This is Halloween**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_A Gift of Heart Shall Be Given _

"I really wouldn't bother screaming like that, you're not going to get out unless I say so." The Diablos grinned madly down upon the furious Bardiel, still shrouding the Evangelion Unit 03. The two were floating in a realm of ethereal darkness where only the ground on which the possessed Eva stood. "You should be thankful that I was so kind as to give you land to stand on, Angel."

"Though I doubt the Master would appreciate you capturing him." A pair of gleaming red eyes materialized beside the Diablos as a fanged grin spread itself wide like an organic crescent moon.

"Majesty," cackled the Diablos. "How good of you to come! I've not done anything to the Angel yet but I was so hoping that the Master would appreciate the gesture of keeping it in one piece!"

"You saw how he reacted to the disobedience of the one who summoned you."

The Diablos growled and the blackness of the void seemed to quiver with faint pieces of crimson light. "That… was not my choice of summoner, Majesty. I would rather be called upon by a Ghoul than that being. He is not of the true darkness. His is a twisted malformation that cannot decide where its shadows should reside within the blackness. It is a self-contradiction, it is a fake of the darkness. Still," The Diablos glanced upwards, grinning. "It would have served Jenova well."

" Indeed. That still doesn't explain the matter of Bardiel being here in your space."

The Diablos chuckled and flew circles around the bellowing Eva, dodging swipes and punches. "My powers are in direct contrast to the Angels, but I am no Mistress of Pain, I am no Anima where the mortal plane is an extension of my will. It took every one of my glyphs to negate the Absolute Terror but it is here, here that I am different!" The Diablos cackled once more. "I am a living anti-AT field! I am the son of the Ancients! And here, in my space, I am Lord of Everything!"

"_That, Esper, is where you're wrong._" Two pairs of ruby eyes widened and turned to stare down at the now glowing form of Eva Unit 03. "_Here I am without the powers of my mortal shell, without the power of Absolute Terror, indeed, but that does not stop me from doing what I must to free the Lord's Children from the damned._"

The Diablos' eyes widened upon realization and he roared angrily. "NOT HERE! Not in my space! You will not defeat me here!"

"_Defeat you? Whoever said anything about defeating you?_" Bardiel laughed. "_I am merely a messenger of His Will._"

With a blast of light, the Eva activated its self-destruct module, sending a cross-shape beam of energy soaring high into the void of the Diablos' space, who shrieked in agony and flew beyond the corners of the realm before turning and snarling angrily.

"I somehow doubt," drawled the voice of Alucard. "That was anything but bad."

"It was, Majesty." The Diablos growled, claws clenching and unclenching in a familiar twitch. "That was a siren's call. The Angels know little of the Master, only that his plans are different from their's.

"And they're coming to stop him."

* * *

"I'm so bloody screwed." Samhain moaned tiredly. Pale amethyst eyes glanced up at the dark ceiling. "I can feel them now, even in this Black Moon…" A few wisps of ebony hair fell past his eyes. "At least that's not being slowed down any…" A spider fell down before him on a thin silken thread. Samhain frowned at that. '_What's this? It's one of mine, the mark on the abdomen is clear, but what is it doing without the rest of the swarm?_' Samhain winced and massaged his temples. 

"Of course, her body is crying for the return of that which was taken from her and that which is being kept from her. The field is growing in strength at the same rate as I." Samhain sighed wearily. "Which means that I've got a bunch of individual spies wondering around the place. Great. A swarm of them, intelligent as any man. Individually, their morons. Oh well…" Samhain raised a hand to his hat and felt the brim of his raggish hat. "At least they didn't take my hat."

"You! Get up!" Samhain turned to see a pair of Section Two guards standing in the now open doorway of his jailcell. "The Commander wants you in the conference room. Now."

"Funny," smiled Samhain. "But I think the Commander will be too busy dealing with Zeruel to deal with me."

The guards jumped at the sound of the Angel Alarms going off and immediately took off towards their designated stations, slamming the door shut behind them. The boy tutted to himself before standing and facing the doorway.

"Took you long enough, Alucard."

"My apologies, Master." The grinning face of the No-Life King stretched outwards from the shadows of the door, "but my Queen and the witchling insisted upon being a part of your 'rescue' and while she is strong—"

"Seras is not yet strong enough to travel in broad daylight," finished Samhain. "It doesn't matter. Take me to the pyramid's top, No-Life King.

"I've got a meeting with an Angel."

* * *

Zeruel's eyes flashed with power as beams of energy shot forward to slam burn straight through several layers of titanium plates of armor before lowering himself downwards through the open air. He turned slowly to face the pyramid in which laid the bodies of His Children. Had he the proper mouth, Zeruel would have frowned. The bodies were there, he could feel them, but why did they feel so… empty? 

"Zeruel." The Angel of Strength twitched at the speaking of his name and lowered himself down to the grounds of the Geo-Front, his Absolute Terror holding off the artillery fire as he gazed upon the pair of beings before him. Two, in the form of black mist, were both creatures of Forsaken light and yet, Zeruel felt a moment of human disbelief, the souls that laid within the husks of life weren't damned enough to even earn a place in his Lord's Hell. Even the procreator of the Forsaken, was neutral enough to earn Purgatory if not Hell. The other was also a creature of death but this, to Zeruel's shock, was an angel of his Lord's Heaven standing beside…

"_What are YOU doing here?_" Zeruel spoke in the language of the Angels.

The shadow hiding within the body smiled. "_You see me for what I am to be. You are indeed mightier in brain than your brother, Zeruel._"

Zeruel's bandage-like arms unfolded and raised themselves so that their sharpened edges touched the body's neck. "_He is the Humilated Son of God, it is… to be expected. Tell me though,_" Zeruel's eyes glowed bightly. "_What is a Pagan doing here where none even remember let alone believe?_"

The shadow growled. "_Had you and your kin not been so caught up in your self-made crusade to serve His Will, you would have known just as Tabrias knows._"

"_Tabrias._" Zeruel's arms lowered themselves from the pale neck, so rich with blood. "_So this is an Alternative then._"

"_The Others who share the gift saw no other difference to be made. Tabrias confirmed. You are only aiding those who damned proper to further their goal._"

"_All of them have damned!_" roared the massive Angel, his AT Field glowering into the visible spectrum of the human eye. "_What they've done, what they're doing now! They do not deserve His forgiveness!_"

"_Don't they? Are the sins of the few so great as to be pushed onto the many? Look at them, Zeruel. Look past the few shades of black and tell me otherwise._"

Zeruel glared before turning his gaze upon the massive headquarters of NERV. Even with those shades, there were still pieces of heavenly light amongst the damned. He saw then, in that moment of ethereal sight, what the shadow of mortal flesh wanted from him.

"_You want the power of this mortal shell. Don't you?_"

The shadow didn't bother to be careful with his words. "_There are three souls down there, trapped for over ten years in bodies that are not their own. Only one deserves such a fate but the other two are different. You know that, Zeruel._"

Still, the Fourteenth was not convinced. "_Why ask this of my shell? You could have done the same with Bardiel had this… desire been so strong._"

"_Bardiel is, as you've said, the Humilated Son. You are the Angel of Strength._" The shadow's eyelids lowered. "_Do the math, Angel._"

Zeruel would have blinked had he eyelids of his own. Instead, he bent forward to stare eye-to-eye with the shadow. "_You know where she is. You know what you would have to do to return her to Him. Will you be capable of the act?_"

"_Were I not capable,_ _would I really have been chosen?_"

Zeruel shook his head. "_No. I suppose not. Very well. I will alert the rest of my kin and find out more of this… plan. Use my gift as you will, Samhian. If only for His._" 

The S2 Engine of the mortal body of Zeruel broke itself free from the shell, which burst into a grand, though incredibly brief, burst of cross-shaped energy. The Engine pulsed like a heart as it shrunk down to the size of a baseball in the hands of Samhain. Lifting the orb to his eyes, Samhain regarded the S2 Engine with obvious jealousy.

"Pardon me for asking," murmured Robin, "but was it not the plan to release those trapped in the Evangelions on the final day?"

"It still is, Little Angel." Alucard's upper torso materialized of the mist along with his queen, one grinning in obvious glee and the other frowning in concern. "It's just that our Master's heart shall not last him past this day."

Samhain frowned and glared up at the vampire. Even with half his body composed of hardened mist, the No-Life King still made a point of being taller than him, something that annoyed the human of Samhain but it was not the vampire's contemptuous attitude. It was what he had to do to get the Engine in the first place.

"I had to bow my head to one of His Angels, Alucard. Not once, in all my eons have I ever bowed my neck to any Other! An Other that dared to question where my motives lie as well as make a point of my strength on this day. Do not push my patience." Ignoring his companions, Samhain brought the S2 Engine to rest before where his dying heart laid and pushed it down, pass cloth and thread, pass flesh and bone, to replace a now useless mass of muscle. The pain was excruciating but Samhain allowed none of it to show upon his face though he sank to his knees.

"Much as I would love to watch," spoke Seras in a sarcastic tone. "NERV is sending aircraft up to us. What do you wish of us to do, Master?"

"For now," Samhain grunted, "Away to rest. We will come on tomorrow's eve." Samhain's eyes glowed green before slowly darkening to black. "And on the end of that day, the fun shall really begin."

The echoing laughter of a long since dead man was nothing in comparison to he whom commanded the dead.

* * *

_On the First, Contact Shall Be Made…_

_On the Second, The Dead Will Arise…_

_On the Third, The One-Winged Angel Will Fly Once More…_

_On the Fourth, The Devil's King Shall Soar…_

_On the Fifth, A Gift of Heart Shall Be Given…_

_

* * *

_


	6. On the Sixth Day

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Evangelion or any copyrighted characters. All fanfiction characters are my own.

**A/N: WARNING. WHILE NOT RATED M, THIS FIC MAY CONTAIN EVIL DEEDS DONE TO EVILER MEN/WOMEN.**

**

* * *

**

**_"_****_Gonna be trouble  
Baby, I'm the trouble man  
Want a fighter? Come on--  
But don't you understand?  
I can't be double  
Baby, I'm the trouble man." _**

**— Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge, Trouble Man**

**

* * *

**

**This is Halloween**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_Masks Will Fall Away _

His flesh was more pallor than ever before, loose folds hanging in some areas. It hurt to speak now, his mouth full of sharp canines capable of rendering skin from bone with unnatural ease. The claws that were once ordinary nails were a deep black and dripping the occasional droplet of poisonous acid. He gasped for breath though his lungs no longer processed the gases from the air. Glimmering blod flowed through his veins and fell from his eyes like crimson tears as he stood there, trying with what little strength was left to him to keep on his feet. With a burst of neon fire, he collapsed to his knees from exhaustion, his hand going over to the hole of his shirt where a heart of an Angel now beat beneath the human flesh.

"It is done…" whispered Samhain, looking over his shoulder to see Seras standing in the doorway.

"Is it time then, Master?"

"No, not yet." Samhain paused before slowly beginning to grin. "But that doesn't mean we cannot create more cracks does it?"

"Forgive me for asking Master but how do you plan on doing that?" He shot her a look. "Ah. I'll go and alert my husband then."

"I'm sure he'll enjoy it." Samhain grinned after her retreating back before frowning and moving towards his dresser. Muttering a spell of unsealing, Samhain opened the top drawer and removed a gold puzzle box. Tapping a claw against its side in an eerie tune, the pale boy glared down at the shadows wrapped around the box.

"So… it was you I've felt enraptured around this body." Samhain sighed and pocketed the box. "No matter. Belief or not, you hold nothing on me." Samhain paused before moving to his closest and removed a walking stick that was as tall as Alucard himself. "Still, that doesn't stop them from trying to take the rest does it? Well then, we'll just have to keep them from him, won't we Goliath?"

The staff pulsed in his hands and Samhain grinned once more before glancing down at his shirt and, noting the hole, deciding a change of dress was in order. Removing his school uniform and his precious hat, Samhain dressed himself in a pair of work pants and a white dress shirt not unlike Alurcard's own. Placing his tophat back atop his head, Samhain whipped out a brown trenchcoat that was as ragged as his hat and, ignoring how large it was compared to his small frame, walked away from the life he once had as a human being.

"Let's begin the end."

* * *

"This is just fucking insane!" growled Misato, shooting the rest of her catridge at the door of the command bridge. "Has the world just gone to hell or what?"

Shinji sighed wearily and looked around the command room in silence. He and Misato had been leaving Touji's hospital room when they had been abducted and brought back to NERV. By what, Shinji wasn't sure only that a stray hand had been a little too grabby for Misato's taste, if her venting was to be taken seriously. He had heard of Samhain's arrest and subsequent escape from the holding cells. No one knew what he had done during the attack of the the Thirteenth Angel but everyone at NERV had seen his communiqué with the Fourteenth. After the Angel had willingly given its S2 Engine to the boy, NERV had been on high red alert and his father, Shinji noted with mild curiousity, was becoming increasingly anxious along with everyone else in NERV.

"Asuka?" he whispered to the German girl sitting beside him. "Do you have any idea what's got everyone so tense?"

"Gee, I don't know." Asuka rolled her eyes. "Maybe cause we're trapped in here by some kind of Angel-freak."

Asuka had been trying to cheer herself up by having a school-day shopping spree when she had been taken, much to her chargrin, shortly after Rei, who now stared up at the Commander with an impassionate gaze as he and the Sub-Commander quietly spoke to each other.

A startled trio were dropped to the floor beside a smoking Ritsuko, '_The Bridge Bunnies_,' Shinji noted to himself, when the lights went out to be replaced with the red glow of the emergency lights.

"What now?" muttered Ritsuko.

"Now," said a voice from the center of the terminals, "I explain myself."

Multitudes of colored orbs shot around to see a shadowed yet recognizable form resting atop a computer terminal, a long walking stick twirling idly in his hands.

"Who the heck are you?" asked Misato.

"Samhain." Shinji blinked in surprise. Rei was correct in her assumption, but the boy looked so different from what he remembered. The foreigner looked as though he was a mere step away from Death's Door. As though he read the boy's mind, Samhain chuckled.

"Correct, Rei Ayanami." Sharp canines glinted in the light of a mad grin. "So good to see you again."

"You're the kid we arrested yesterday," said Misato. "The one who confronted the Angel."

"Yes," Samhain agreed. "You will be glad to know that there shan't be anymore attacks from them. They will not come."

"That's impossible!" exclaimed Ritsuko. "They have to come here!"

"They have to?" asked Samhain, smiling still but this time with a feral edge. "And just why is that, Ritsuko Akagi? Do your sexual trysts with the Commander actually give you any sort of idea as to what should have occurred?"

"The Commander?" muttered Aoba, slightly green in the face. Ignoring the shocked/ashamed face of Ritsuko, Samhain glanced up towards the stoic man.

"Why do you think Naoko Akagi was so vehement in stopping him? She loved him but it was a jealous love spawned from an image of a man that does not exist. And like her, he would have had her killed." Samhain's eyes began to glow iridescently.

"How did it feel, Rokubungi? Breaking that woman's soul and shattering her mind? Having her kill the one who replaced your wife and your son? How did it feel watching her kill herself because of how disgusted she was by herself?"

Silence.

Snorting, Samhain turned to face Misato. "You… Yes, I remember you… You were there when they killed him weren't you? You were a witness to Adam's destruction."

Misato stiffened. "If you mean Second Impact, then yes. Yes I was there."

Samhain's grin widened. "So you know then. Your father's sin. He wanted to carry Adam. Adam refused. Your father struck him and Adam struck back."

Before Misato could respond, there was a shift in the shadows as a tall man wearing a red trenchcoat materialized beside Samhain. Reacting on instinct, Misato unholstered her gun and shot the man point-blank in the forehead, spraying blood across two of the Bridge Bunnies. Maya shrieked and Hyuuga looked greener than Aoba but their eyes were drawn away from the blood that covered them from the sound of shocked gasps. The man hadn't fallen over and was grinning at the Major, the amber glass of his sunglasses giving him a rather demented air about him. A duo pair of sharpened canines glinted in the crimson light, giving a clue as to the nature of the man if seeing the blood that once decorated Lieutenants Ibuki and Hyuuga flowing through the air to vanish the wound atop the man's brow wasn't clue enough.

"Just what the hell are you?" stuttered Misato. "An Angel?"

Samhain clucked softly and the temperature of the room seemed to drop as the man was suddenly standing before Misato. "I and my kind have been called many names throughout the eons. In China, we are the Jiang Shi. In the ancient times of Greece, we were called Lamia but are now referred to as the Vrykolakas. In India, we are Vetalas. Here, in what's left of Japan, we are known as Kyuketsuki." The man's smile widened at the looks of recognition on their faces but paused upon seeing Asuka's face. "Though nowadays, in the modern world, many have come to call the backdrops of my kin as a simple yet eloquent word.

"Vampires." The man laughed darkly. "Still, that word does not compare to I or my Queen now does it? No, we are vampire but we are the purest of all bloodsuckers. We are Nosferatu and you, little military girl, shall not forget that."

"Allow me to introduce my servant," spoke Samhain. "Alucard, the No-Life King. His wife was so kind as to drop you here while Alucard made himself busy with you idiotic Section Two."

"Yes they were quite… unappetizing." A blonde-haired female materialized beside Alucard, who grinned down upon her.

"Yet you drank nonetheless. I'm proud Police Girl." Seras' face, already flushed with fresh blood, glowed a slight pink.

"Romance aside," Samhain turned to face the group. "We have much to discuss." Amethyst eyes turned to look up upon the face of the stoic Gendo. "Don't we Rokubungi?"

"That is no longer my name."

"It's been your name since the day you abandoned those foolish enough to try and contain Adam on the ice of Antarctica. I will not dishonor the name of Yui by referring her last name to you. Your son, however…" Samhain looked down upon Shinji. "I'm sorry Shinji, but her release from the Eva will have to wait."

"My mother…?" Shinji gulped. "So, it wasn't a nightmare…"

"Ah, so you remember then," Samhain nodded. "Good, that makes it so much easier doesn't it? Knowing that, in a few hours, her suffering will be over. Though be reassured that her sacrifice wasn't in vain."

"What the hell are you two talking about?" screeched Asuka. "What sacrifice and what about the Eva?"

Samhain's grin turned a trifle sad and he leaned heavily about his stick. "The Evangelions are copies, Asuka Sohryu. Yours and Rei's are copies of Adam but Shinji's is a copy of whom SEELE are fool enough to call Lillith. Speaking of…" Samhain placed two fingers to his lips and whistled sharply. The door that Misato had been so futilely trying to blast open with her handgun buckled once, twice, before a monstrous dog walked straight through five inches of pure titanium as though it wasn't even on the same plane of existence.

The canine was no smaller than a large horse and while it had the body of a thickly muscled German Shepard, all three of its heads were of a Doberman's with the necks of all three being torn and ripped open, bleeding heavily onto the floor with a serpent's body and head serving as a tail for the hellish creature. The dog-creature barked once more before dropping an item from its central head into Samhain's waiting hand. The pale boy held it up to reveal an extremely high-tech visor used primarily by the blind.

"Good boy, Cerberus." Samhain chuckled and pat the dog fondly on its right head. "A good hunt then?" An ecstatic bark mixed with a growl. Samhain's eyebrows lowered in slight concern. "Oh really? He's here?" An affirmative bark. "Very good then. You may return back to the Underworld, but be sure to send Uncle Hades my regards." The Cerberus howled and instead of exiting through the open doorway, the three-headed dog began to dig downwards into the floor and soon disappeared in a cloud of shrapnel and dust. Once the cloud settled, one could plainly see a large hole glowing a faint red.

"I wouldn't go near there if I were you," said Samhain, catching Rei slight lean for a better look. "He's taking a shortcut through the third circle of Hell."

"You… You're not human…" stuttered Maya, sliding back along the floor until her back hit the opposite wall where Aoba and Hyuuga soon joined her alongside the rest of the humans, including Gendo.

"At this moment, yes actually." Samhain smiled once more. "But then, I did give you ample warning to leave did I not? Seven Days, I said."

"You!" exclaimed Ritsuko. "It was you who sent the video!"

"Yes," nodded Samhain. "And it was I who, with the help of my servants here, drew upon the power of an Evangelion, and it was I who, with the assistance of a soul from Heaven, received an Angel's Heart in place of my own.

"And it will be I who brings forth the end." Samhain's eyes narrowed and began to glow green. "But first… tell me, Gendo… where is he?"

"I don't know who you're speaking of." Samhain's eyes, if anything, began to glow brighter.

"Do not play me for a fool. My spies might have been neutralized and my powers still heavily suppressed on this day, but I know you have him. Where is he? Where is Adam?" Gendo remained silent save for a single twitch of a finger. The twitch could not have been more than a hair's width but Samhain noticed it. Mentally reviewing what he know of the human's "Instrumentality", Samhain's jaw first dropped in shock before clenching in a tight feral frown. Standing, Samhain stalked towards Gendo, pratically aglow with anger.

"How dare you? It wasn't enough to force him to return to a child, to freeze him in your manmade ice. You had to keep that ego of your's inflated to be above God. Well you're motto is right Gendo Rokubungi but it needs some changes. God is in His Heaven and All is Not Right in the World. Not until I free Adam from your clutches, or…" A knife appeared in Samhain's hand. "Should I saw your right hand?"

Before anything could be said or done, there was a sound of flesh being sliced apart and blood splattering noisily to the ground. The gloved hand of one Gendo Rokubungi flew through the air to be caught by a pale clawed hand still attached to its owner. Tossing his knife to imaple it on the floor, Samhain turned his back on Gendo and began to inspect the hand he had severed with the eyes of a man searching for the answer to all, completely heedless of the Commander's agonized scream of pain as well as the exclamations from the other humans.

Frowning, Samhain held the hand closer to his eyes. "He lives still. You're fortunate, Gendo. You should be glad to know that your wife will be placed in her proper resting plane for the rest of eternity. Had Adam's body died, I would have guaranteed that you would be given a bare glimpse of her from your spot in Hell. Now, you'll have nothing to torture you. Not that she'd have agreed anyway." Samhain chuckled and slowly began to turn to face the group behind him. "She's so disgusted with you, Gendo… She'll never take you back, not after what you've—"

SHLUCK!

Samhain's eyes widened as his empty hand flew upon to his neck in shocked pain, clawed fingers feeling the torn flesh and ruptured arteries pumping precious life's blood. He spoke a word too gargled by the blood in his lungs to be understood as he fell onto his back, Gendo's hand and Adam's prison landing beside his head, still leaking the madman's blood.

Gendo panted for breath, Samhain's knife clutched tightly in his bloodied left hand. His glasses having fallen earlier, everyone could see the madness brought from physical pain shining in the man's eyes. "I've sacrificed too much of myself to let her go! I'll have my Yui back even if it means destroying all of creation to do it!"

"You won't need to worry about that," Alucard smiled and waved a hand at Samhain's corpse laid. "You just completed the final step to your eternal damnation, Gendo Rokubungi. You've done every sin you could haven't you but now, you've made it so much worse. You took our Mother and crucified her. You took our Father and placed him in your right hand. And now, you've just killed a God. Your pain will be legendary, even in Hell." Alucard chuckled. "Of course, which Hell is brought to question isn't it?"

"What are you blathering about? He's dead! There's nothing he can do to stop me?"

"You're a fool, Gendo," said Seras. "You've been in this game for so long yet you don't know the rules still? There are laws that must be abided and, unlike you, Samhain is too honorable to break those laws that he set upon himself eons ago."

"You might have read up on them in the past few days, Gendo." Alucard spoke conversationally, as though they were talking about the weather. "I'm sure you must have, feeling that unnatural sense of fear growing even now in your gut. The legend of the Pumpkin King."

"_On the edge of the Hallowed Day, there will come a time where the Heart of Angel, Flesh of Mortal Man, and Blood of a Damned Soul shall entwine together and break all the Rules of Engagement between the Gods of Old and Gods of New._" Samhain's body began to burn in neon-green fire as the boy's warped voice continued to speak."_On that day, there will be pain unlike any before. On that day, human will become the god it was once before. On that day, the Children will return home._" Samhain's body stood up and, with a wave of his arm, banished the flames that feasted upon him to reveal the Truth of Himself.

"_On that day, Samhain, Pagan God of Death, shall run the Final Harvest._"

The pumpkinhead of the deity spread its fanged grin wide.

"_Trick or Treat._"

* * *

Deep within Terminal Dogma, there was a sound of liquid gushing as a metallic sound rang within the hollows of the massive cavern. The body without the soul slowly breathed her first breath in eons and opened her gleaming eyes. For the first time since her side-along banishment from the Garden of Eden, for the first time since the birth of many of their Children, she looked upon herself and even without a soul she understood the degradation that her own children placed upon her. 

Several floors above, Rei Ayanami began to weep though she knew not why.

* * *

_On the First, Contact Shall Be Made…_

_On the Second, The Dead Will Arise…_

_On the Third, The One-Winged Angel Will Fly Once More…_

_On the Fourth, The Devil's King Shall Soar…_

_On the Fifth, A Gift of Heart Shall Be Given…_

_On the Sixth, __Masks Will Fall Away… _

_

* * *

_


	7. On the Seventh Day

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Evangelion or any copyrighted characters. All fanfiction characters are my own.

**A/N: WARNING. WHILE NOT RATED M, THIS FIC MAY CONTAIN EVIL DEEDS DONE TO EVILER MEN/WOMEN.**

**

* * *

**

**_"Do you remember me ?  
Lost for so long.  
Will you be on the other side ?  
Will you forgive me ? _**

Im dying,  
Praying,  
Bleeding,  
Screaming.

Am I too lost to be saved ?  
Am I too lost ?" 

**— Evanescence, Tourniquet**

**

* * *

**

**This is Halloween**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_Judgement Will Be Made _

The creature towered at a height of eight feet with the body of an adult man with limbs too long, too stretched, to be human in nature. The right hand flexed and blades ripped through skin to replace normal fingers while the left clutched the long stick of wood tightly. A burst of emerald fire emerged from the top of the staff to form a sickle as long as the skeletal man's forearm. What was once a tattered and ragged tophat was a now a glimmering fedora of deep violet with a glimmering red feather moving gently as though there was a gentle autumn's wind flowing through the air. The pumpkinhead of the creature turned and gazed over them idly with eyes of red flame.

"I would suggest running unless you want to meet your end here." It spoke in an echoing voice of the boy that it once was. It need not repeat the warning. The pumpkinhead turned around and said to the vampire king, "Keep them separate save for the Children and their Guardian." He tossed Gendo's hand to the No-Life King. "You know what to do with the rest."

"Master," spoke both vampires, melting away into the shadows. The creature grinned and turned its head back around to see one Maya Ibuki still cowering on the ground, her eyes wide with terror and… '_Well, now…_' thought the creature, '_This is interesting._'

It was recognition that shone in her eyes.

"Do you know who I am, Maya Ibuki?" The creature's grin spread itself wider. "Do you know what I represent?"

"I-I-I… Yes-Yes I do… Sir…" Maya's hand flinched towards her neck, a motion that didn't escape the creature's eyes. Kneeling before her and lifting his bladed hand to her throat, the creature gently grasped the thin cord, ignoring the lieutenant's shivering, and pulled out the medallion hidden beneath her uniform. The feral grin shrank to a soft smile.

"Well, well. A Celtic, here of all places." The creature looked up into Maya's wide eyes. "I know I liked you for a reason, Maya Ibuki."

Maya gulped and nodded. "Th-Thank you… Lord Samhain."

"Ah none of that, my dear. It is I who should be thanking you," Samhain nodded at her shocked look. "You keep me and my kin alive with your belief, Maya Ibuki. That is what makes a god so powerful you know. Belief. That's all we need." Samhain stood and stepped towards the open doorway.

"Wait!"

"Hmmm?" Samhain turned his head to face her.

"Please… please don't kill him…"

"Him. The Aoba or the Hyuuga?"

"… Hyuuga."

Samhain's feral grin returned. "Ah so you do know of the Aoba's sins. Good head on your shoulders, that. Do not trouble yourself, Maya Ibuki. Only those drowned in sin shall die this day."

"Th-Then… Sempai?"

Samhain's eyes narrowed. "You know nothing of what she's done but do not argue on her behalf, child of Brighid for even my fellow Celt cannot stop me from changing my mind. Not today." Samhain turned to face the open doorway. "Oh yes, you should also be aware that the hole there, the one leading into Hell, is expanding. It will swallow the entire Black Moon soon but the city above will remain safe. I recommend finding shelter, Maya Ibuki."

* * *

Fuyutski sighed warmly and took another sip of his warm drink. Sitting alone in the cafeteria, with only the sounds of the air-filtrators gentle humm echoing throughout the large room, was oddly relaxing for the aged ex-professor. Setting the cup down gently, he took out a photo of his grandchildren and sighed sadly.

"You're not running." The voice of the Death God was oddly calm, containing no surprise evident in his echoing voice.

"I've run for so long now," said Kozo Fuyutski. "I'm an old man made older by this past decade."

"Through sin." There was anger in that voice now.

"Yes. Through sin." Sighed Kozo.

"You know where you will go, what will be done to you, yet you sit here, drinking your tea and looking at what you could have had. Do not fool me by saying you are tired, Kozo Fuyutski." The scythe's fire-blade was near the back of his neck, if the sudden increase of heat was to be any sort of clue.

"You know me for what I am, God of Death." Kozo said, weariness weighing his voice down. "You know just as well as I how damned I am."

"You are damned," agreed the Death God. "By your silence, by your refusal to stand up for what you knew was right, for bending your neck to those damned far worse than you. Yes you are damned. You knew the truth. You knew what was to occur. Yet you stayed silent." The fire-blade drew closer to his skin, searing off old hair. "Yet you refuse to run."

"Are you really so surprised?"

"No. I am a god, Kozo Fuyutski. Remember? I know what is that you want so ask it of me."

"… Will you tell her I'm sorry, for not being there when she needed me. For when Shinji needed me?"

"I will but do not expect to hear an answer. Goodbye Kozo Fuyutski."

SHLUCK.

* * *

Ritsuko gasped for breath, holding her small handgun tightly in both hands, looking over her shoulder towards the entrance of the MAGI. That was the only way in to where she was, there was no way that demon could reach her here. For a moment, she wished that Misato was there but, knowing that the woman cared more for her charges than herself, Ritsuko took back the thought and shoved it away. 

"Interesting that you would hide yourself here, Ristuko Akagi." Her head turned sharply to stare straight into the face of the demon. Shrieking in fright, she scrambled backwards and fell out of the entryway of the inner cores of the MAGI. She stopped upon feeling a pair of legs to her back. She breathed a sigh of relief that turned to a gasp of shock as a bladed hand clutched her labcoat and lifted her up into the air to stare once more into the demon's face.

"Evening, Doctor." The demon's grin was a joke to her profession, grinning madness and speaking lies. What was before her was scientifically impossible.

"LET GO OF ME!"

The demon tutted. "So you may stain your hands further? So eager to descend further, Doctor?"

"Damn you!" Ritsuko lifted her gun to the demon's face and fired several bullets into the pumpkin that served as the demon's head. The bullets didn't even penetrate the pumpkin's skin and served only to amuse the demon.

"Damn me? Doctor," chided the demon. "I'm the one who cuts down the damned. You see Kozo Fuyutski over there?" The demon turned her so that she might see the decapitated body of the Sub-Commander. "Was a mercy killing." His eyes turned black and the fires of his mouth turned a disgusting shade of green. "You are a different case altogether."

"I haven't done anything!" screeched Ritsuko. "I—"

"Followed in your mother's footsteps and continue to do so now, Doctor. However, unlike her, you could not bring yourself to fully kill the one named Rei Ayanami though you've imagined it. Oh but how you've imagined it." The demon dropped her noisily to the floor. "It is my duty to cut you down, but it is my pleasure to add to your punishment."

The scythe fell, slicing apart the doctor's torso, burning the skin before blood could even begin to flow. Yet, before the doctor had chance to scream in the agony of pain, she felt something happening to her that was, by all the laws her precious science told her, was impossible. Her lower half kicked at the air before shapely human legs melded into a single scaly tail with the rest of her form following to become a slithering and hissing snake. On her half, she felt a huge weight pushing down upon her back, pushing her wrinkled face to the ground as bleached hair fell away into the wind. She felt another pair of legs replace those that she lost and suddenly found herself with a neck long enough to see what had become of her.

"A snake for your lust and hatred." Spoke the demon. "And a tortoise whose shell weighs you down with all your sin. But there is more good Doctor, much more. You feel it don't you? The deep need to become one with the snake just as you, the snake, feels a need to become one with the turtle for you are both two halves of the same whole." The demon reached down and picked up the snake. "That need will haunt you for another hundred years and while you remain separate…" Here, the demon began to squeeze the snake, who writhed in agony to mirror that of the tortoise. "You feel the pain of the other but cannot die. Only endure." The demon pulled his arm back and tossed the snake through metal and earth, sky and cloud. Away and away to the farthest of places until the desire to become one was almost too much for the tortoise to endure. The demon looked down at the tortoise and kicked it away as well, into the opposite way and watched, in silence, as it disappeared from sight.

"Now, for the pedophile."

* * *

"You can come out now, Makoto Hyuuga. Your sin is nothing to me, so you'd do better following Maya Ibuki's example and escaping while you still can." Samhain stood patiently in the long corridor before one Makoto Hyuuga extracted himself from the janitor's closest. 

"What did you do to her?" he asked, shaking in the knees yet holding his gun steady at Samhain's heart. The god tilted his pumpkinhead at the man.

"Just like what I'm doing to you now. Nothing." Samhain suddenly chuckled. "Though I can't say the same for Aoba."

"Where is he?" asked Hyuuga. "What did you do to him?"

"I removed his… jewelery… before sending him to where all pedophiles go."

"Pedo- Aoba was not a—"

"Say that to Theru, to Kiki, to Mai, to Chihiro. To all the girls whom he gazed upon in heated lust and gave way to pleasuring himself to their young flesh, to their untested voices, to their—"

"STOP IT!" Hyuuga dropped his gun to the floor. "Just… stop it…"

Samhain stood, gazing at the man in silence before walking up to and past him. "Decide soon, Makoto Hyuuga. Do you want to live to see what life you could lead with Maya Ibuki or would rather spend the rest of eternity in Hell? I am not your god so I cannot guide you to the correct path.

"You must do that yourself."

* * *

"Are they ready for depature, Robin?" 

"They are, Samhain."

"Good," spoke the god before he turned to the two ladies standing beside the witch. "Your children will be unharmed both physically and spiritually. As for their sanity, I cannot say."

"Please," spoke the first. "Can't you take her without involving him?"

"Or little Asuka as well," spoke the second.

"You know I cannot. Your children are connected in more ways than one. In order to return her, all the connections Rei Ayanami has made must be severed. By force if necessary."

"He will keep your children safe," said the witch. "There is nothing more either of you can ask from him. After all he's done for you, guaranteeing this passage to Heaven, how can you ask more of him?"

"…" Both women remained silent.

"Go," spoke the god. "Before I change my mind as to where you both should be sent."

* * *

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Misato slammed the phone down angrily. "Even the fucking phone lines have been cut off!" 

"Well, what did you expect?" Samhain walked around the corner, turning his head to gaze at them with his mad grin. Misato pushed the children behind her and glared at the pumpkinheaded god.

"I don't care what you do to me, but leave the children out of this!"

"You know I can't do that." Samhain slowly walked closer to them, his footsteps echoing in the silence of the corridor. "I must return her to her rightful place."

"Who?" asked Shinji. "Misato? Asuka?"

"Rei Ayanami." Samhain's eyes of fire gazed at the albino. "Or should I say, Eve?"

"Eve?" muttered Asuka. "As in—"

" Adam and Eve. The parents to all of mankind. At least, that's what the Christians say." Samhain's grin spread itself wide, sharpening his teeth further.

"You are incorrect," whispered Rei. "The soul I carry is not that of Eve but of Lillith."

"FOOLISH CHILD!" roared Samhain, the fires of his head burning black. "Don't you dare follow in Gendo's footsteps! He is wrong just as SEELE was wrong. Just as everyone who bore witness to your true body was wrong. You are not Lillith, the spawner of demons and devils, you are Eve. Wife to Adam, Daughter to God, Mother of Man.

"And you must return home."

"No one is going anywhere!" exclaimed Misato. "Don't listen to it, Rei. It's just another damn Angel."

"You know that is a lie, Misato Katsuragi." Samhain said. "Youu know who and what I am. Just as you, Rei Ayanami, know who you truly are.

"And what you must do."

"What?" asked Shinji. "What does Rei have to do?"

"I have to die," spoke Rei softly as ever. "So that Eve's soul might be released into his embrace."

Samhain blinked in surprise. "So you knew then."

"Every since we met." Rei gazed up at the god. "I've know you for what you are and what would happen on this day. You told me to tell the commander to not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for him.

"But you meant me, didn't you?"

"Yes…"

"… Will I be me, or will I be Eve?"

"That even I can't answer."

"… I'm ready then." Rei moved to stand beside Samhain, but Shinji's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Rei! You don't have to do this! You're not just some kind of, some kind of shell of someone else!"

Rei smiled sadly. "But I am, Ikari-kun. I've always been since I was created from Eve and your mother."

"My-my mother?" Shocked, Shinji released his grip on her arm and stepped back from the girl. "Mother?"

"In a matter of speaking." Samhain spoke up. He looked down at Rei. "Are you truly ready to let it all go, Rei Ayanami?"

"I… am…"

"You are afraid."

"It is natural, to be afraid of death."

"But not of me."

" Never of you."

Samhain nodded and knelt down to embace the blue-haired girl who sighed slowly and didn't take further breath of air. Picking up the girl bridal-style, Samhain turned away from the shocked group and began to walk away. "You should be aware that the hole, the one leading into Hell, is expanding. It will swallow the entire Geo-Front soon but the city above will remain safe. I recommend finding leaving." And with that said, he walked away, leaving a droplet of ember-flames to fall in his wake.

"Forgive me…" whispered the shadows of death.

* * *

Gendo futilely dug through his desk, trying so desperately to find the handgun he kept hidden amongst the woodworks, when the fire-sickle burst through his chest. His body being lifted high into the air, Gendo let out a loud scream of pain as the God of Death spoke behind him. 

"You won't die by this scythe, Gendo Rokubungi. Your fate is far worse than death by impalement." A pair of skeletal batwings burst from Samhain's back, lifting them both high into the air, through ceiling after ceiling until they hovered above the pyramid base of NERV. The ground shook and trembled before the pyramid collapsed on itself and vanished into a crimson hole of fire and ice.

Samhain pulled out a gold puzzle-box from his coat and tapped its side gently and listened to it as its eerie tune began to play. Dropping it into the pit, Samhain looked towards Gendo. "Enjoy his company, Gendo Rokubungi."

Without another word, Samhain swung his scythe downwards and launched the man straight into the portal's center. He landed heavily onto the sharpened rocks, right beside the puzzle-box. He laid there gasping in pain as pair of leather-black boots stepped up to him. Gazing upwards, he looked up in horror at the man whose entire head was embedded in pins and needles.

"Wh-Who are you?"

"Who am I?" chuckled the man in a deeply rich voice. "I… am… PAIN!"

Spiked chains flew outwards from the flames and dragged Gendo Rokubungi further into the Hell that would be his home for all eternity. Pinhead watched him as he was dragged away before looking to the flying Samhain, and waved a single goodbye before the portal closed itself.

"Vengeance," spoke Samhain. "Has been served." His eyes turn towards you, glimmering green beneath a skin of pumpkin flesh. "But what was it to you?

"A trick or a treat?"

* * *

_On the First, Contact Shall Be Made…_

_On the Second, The Dead Will Arise…_

_On the Third, The One-Winged Angel Will Fly Once More…_

_On the Fourth, The Devil's King Shall Soar…_

_On the Fifth, A Gift of Heart Shall Be Given…_

_On the Sixth, __Masks Will Fall Away…_

___On the Seventh, __Judgement Will Be Made_…

_

* * *

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	8. The Twenty Sixth Parallel

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Evangelion or any copyrighted characters. All fanfiction characters are my own.

**A/N: WARNING. WHILE NOT RATED M, THIS FIC MAY CONTAIN EVIL DEEDS DONE TO EVILER MEN/WOMEN.**

**

* * *

**

**_"Give me time to reason,  
Give me time to think it through  
Passing through the season,  
Where I cheated you  
I will always have a cross to wear,  
But the bolt reminds me I was there  
So give me strength,  
To face this test tonight  
If only I could turn back time,  
If only I had saved what I still had  
If only I could turn back time,  
I would stay for the night... for the night..." _**

**— Aqua, Turn Back Time**

**

* * *

**

**This is Halloween**

By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland

_The Twenty-Sixth Parallel _

"Misses Ikari, we're leaving now!" Asuka pushed Shinji through the open door as he called back to his mother.

"See you later mom, dad!"

"Have a good day at school, sweetie!" The pair heard her call back as they raced to the apartment on the opposite side to nearly collide with their friend and fellow classmate of room 2-A, Sam Mortimer.

The pale boy was struggling to put on his left shoe while simultaneously walking and eating a piece of bacon in his mouth. His kid brother called farewell to him alongside his parents as he hopped along beside Asuka and Shinji. Swallowing the bacon down, he glanced at his two friends and smirked.

"Another handprint, Shinji-kun?" asked Sam. "You didn't mention the P-word did you?"

"He did," said Asuka, her nose in the air, "and paid for it in spades I think."

"Whatever, Asuka," muttered Shinji as the trio ran down the stairs and down the sidewalks towards school, all idly noting the heavy traffic leading into the city.

"Hey, isn't there a new student starting today?" asked Shinji. Asuka turned her head slightly to face her childhood friend.

"Yeah, that's right," she said, never slowing down in her run. "Since this city's going to become the new capital, there are a lotta people moving in. It's no wonder we're getting so many new kids. I mean, look at Sam! He moved her all the way from England!" Sam grinned and nodded while Shinji looked upwards, a slight smile on his face. 

"Ah, I guess that makes sense. I wonder what she's like? Oh, I hope she's got a great butt. Hehe!" Sam glanced at Asuka's irritated face and increased his speed to be slightly ahead of the 'married couple'.

'_Shinji, you're either stupider than you appear or are too damn oblivious. Whichever, I wouldn't want to be you._' Sam thought to himself. '_Hey, how does he know a girl is being transferred today anyway, Katsuragi-sensei didn't tell us anything about the new kid yet!_'

Before he could think further on it, Sam's head suddenly experienced a sharp collision with another person's skull, sending them both to the ground groaning in pain.

"Sonofa!" Sam clutched his forehead tightly, biting back the curse that was just begging to be released from his lips. "OW!" He looked up and saw a generous view of something that any of the three stooges would have paid for gladly before looking into the ruby red eyes of the blue-haired girl opposite of him. Sam blinked and nearly did a double take. She looked quite similar to Shinji's mother.

The girl groaned and looked towards Sam and saw the view she was giving him. With a squawk of surprise, she shoved her dress-skirt down. "Oh, ah, I'm sorry!" she said, grabbing her bag. "But I'm really in a hurry kid!" She jumped to her feet and raced off towards the direction of the high school, waving back at him. "I'm really sorry! Bye! See ya!"

'_She wouldn't be if she knew I could still see what lies beneath from my position…_' Sam stared after her blinking slowly in surprise. Suddenly, Sam's brain finally caught up with what the girl had called him.

"HEY! I'M NOT A KID!" Sam winced and grabbed his head. "Ouch!"

* * *

"Wow! So did you see her panties then?" Sam rolled his eyes at the ever eloquent Touji Suzahara, a member of their click of friends. A jock who was brighter than what people took him for and whose crush on the Class Rep was reciprocated. Not that either of them knew that but Sam was digressing from the problem at hand.

"It wasn't really that good of a look, Touji." Sam held out his pointer finger and thumb so that there was but a few centimeters between them. "This much if any." So he was lying, so what? He could feel the aura of menace from Touji's 'girlfriend' alongside Shinji's 'wife' and he was not going to be caught in the crossfire again.

"AWW!" Touji pressed his hand to his face. "I can't believe that you're the one to have all the luck!" Sam shook his head. '_Bad move, Jock-boy_.' Hikari's hand gripped Touji's ear tightly and twisted. "Ah! Ow, ow, ow, ow! What're you doing? Let go, Class Rep!"

"Exactly what are you talking about Mister Suzahara?" The other three boys winced. It was obvious that Asuka had been teaching Hikari how to handle the jock. "It's time to put the idle butt of your's to work! Help me check the water in the flower vases!" The pigtailed girl released Touji's ear and walked over to the vases in question.

"She's mean…" whimpered Touji. Sam doubted that Touji meant that if the slightly flush on his face was any indication.

"Did you just say something?" asked Hikari.

"NOTHING!" Touji yelped, leaping to his feet and hurrying after Hikari to check on the vases.

" Poor Touji is so carpet-bagged…" Shinji said. "It's sad isn't it?"

'_I mustn't roll my eyes. I mustn't roll my eyes._' Chanted Sam in his head. He did. '_Drat._'

"Look who's talking," muttered Asuka. Sam blinked at that. It was rare for Asuka to ever bring up her and Shinji's strange relationship outside of the childhood friend thing.

"Hey!" exclaimed Shinji. "Are you saying that I'm—"

"I'm merely reporting the facts." Asuka stated.

"How so?" Kensuke sighed and leaned back against his chair

"It just is! Accept it!" Sam sighed and leaned back and brought a hand to his still sore temple.

"Hey, why do you treat me like this?" asked Shinji, grabbing her hand tightly.

"Hey! That hurts you idiot!" Asuka smacked him upside the head.

"OUCH! HEY!"

"The calm, the peace, and tranquility…" muttered Kensuke.

"Grand isn't it?" asked Sam. The familiar sound of tires screeching and a car do a tight 180 degree turn drew everyone's attention to the parking lot briefly. Shinji, Touji, and Kensuke, rushed to the window, exclaiming their teacher's name in glee. Sam sighed but looked outside as well as their young, yet undeniably hot, teacher exited her car. She glanced up at the trio and saw Kensuke's video camera. Smiling, she shot them the peace sign which they reciprocated all too eagerly.

"Just look at those three stooges," grumbled Asuka and Hikari at the same time, earning them a surprised eye from Sam. "Have they no shame."

Sam spared the stooges a glance and, upon hearing their wolf-whistles, calmly stated. "Not a bit."

* * *

"Alright! Stand up! Bow! Sit down!" Sam went through the routine and resumed his watch outside the window as their teacher began to speak.

"Listen up dudes!" Misato leaned forward on her desk. "We got new blue-haired babe here to introduce herself!" She giggled and stepped aside just as Sam turned his head in confusion.

'_Blue hair? It couldn't be…_'

But it was.

"My name is Rei Ayanami!" The red-eyed girl smiled. "How's it hanging!"

"WHA! It's you!" Sam shot to his feet, pointing a finger at the girl who shrieked in shock.

"GWAH! You're the jerk who was staring at my panties!" Sam stepped back in shock, but before he could defend himself, Asuka rose from her seat, ready to defend her best (male) friend. Besides Shinji of course.

"Hey! What do you mean by that? You were the one flashing them you know!"

Rei's eyelids lowered and she glared over at the red-haired German. "Who are you and why are you defending him? Are riding his bologna pony?" She snickered at Asuka's blush.

"NO! We're just really good friends! You shut up!"

"Hey, be quiet you two," said Hikari, standing from her seat. "This is a classroom not a bar!"

"Hey, this is more entertaining than class," giggled Misato from beside her desk. "Go on, I want to see how this turns out."

"Man, Sam. I didn't know you were getting it on with Asuka," said Kensuke, pretending not to see Shinji's jealous glare at the pale-skinned Englishman.

"I'm not getting it on with Asuka! Shinji is but I most certainly am not!"

"What's that supposed to—SHINJI!"

Said boy jumped to his feet in shock and spoke without thinking. "Yes ma'am!"

Needless to say, things went downhill from there.

* * *

Sam bonked his head against his desk over and over, each time uttering a single "Ouchie," with every impact. He was alone in the classroom save for one Rei Ayanami, who ignored the boy completely, or at least tried to. His constant head banging was getting rather annoying. Rei rolled her eyes and continued to search for her lunch and, upon finding nothing, cried out a very loud, "CRAP!" That startled Sam enough for him to fall out of his desk.

"Ow, jeezus girl." Sam pulled himself to his feet and looked over at the new girl. "What is it now? Going to say I peeped on you in the showers?"

Rei flushed and ignored the jibe. "I forgot my lunch, pervert-kid." A vein twitched in Sam's temple. Every since he was twelve, Sam hated being called a 'kid' and after the incident of October 31, 2014; no other teenager dared to call him that.

"I am not a kid. I am fourteen just like you, and I am most certainly not a pervert either. If anyone is to blame, it's you! You were the one that wasn't watching where you were going!"

"Well, neither were you!" Rei shot back, glaring up at the boy standing in front of her desk.

"I was on the opposite side of a wall that is twice my height! I'm no Gary Stu, girl! I've not got any god-like powers at my beck and call to save myself the trouble of colliding with your thick skull!"

Before Rei could come up with a retort, her stomach chose that moment to reassert its need of sustenance. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and blushed brightly while Sam's glare left him with a frown in its place. Sighing, her pulled out his lunch and set it down on Rei's desk.

"Here. Annoying or not, I'm not the type of guy that let's a girl starve." He walked back towards his desk, ignoring his own stomach's protestations. Sighing, he closed his eyes but opened them when he heard someone sitting at the desk beside his. Seeing Rei looking back and forth between him and his lunch box, her blush still on her face, Sam felt a strange twitter-patter in his heart but ignored it at the girl's words.

"We can share it," She glanced off to the side. "That is, if you're adult enough for that, pervert-kid." Sam blinked; there was no more venom in her voice only… playfulness. '_Well then, two can play at that game._'

"Suit yourself… Ice-Head."

The world faded to black.

* * *

"This is the twenty-sixth parallel? This is what you wished to show me, Angel of Alternatives?" Tabrias turned to look at the god beside him, noting to himself how the fiery eyes never left the globe before them though it was nothing but pitch black.

"I felt it a fitting thank-you gift to you, Celtic God of Death."

Samhain snorted embers. "What gift is this? Showing me an alternative of what could have been. It doesn't change what is now, in our branch of the alternates."

"No, it does not," agreed Tabrias. "But it does show to you, and only you mind, the alternate where you and her are together still."

"… Why did you call me here?" asked Samhain. "I am higher on the status quo than you Angel, so do not try and cover your tracks."

"I do no such thing, God of Death, but though I am lower on the 'status quo' as you call it, does not prevent me from seeing what lies in that inferno of a heart."

"I have no heart," growled Samhain, his fires glowing black. "I am the God of the Dead, the Slicer of the Damned, Lord of Beasts, and the Spirit of Autumn's End! I feel only what I am meant to feel!"

"And you felt it, when she was in your embrace."

Black fires ebbed away to normal shades of red and orange. "You know nothing of what you speak."

"You, like the others of death, have rarely, if ever, let a soul escape from your grasp. In your case, you've held her soul three separate times and each time she was taken from you." Samhain remained silent and turned his back on the Angel. "You know she can never be yours."

"Of that," growled Samhain. "I am all too aware, so why show me the twenty-sixth parallel? Why give this so called gift to me?"

"She and you were alike on the mortal plane," said Tabrias. "You both had human vessels that held your… embodiments I think is the best word for it, and these embodiments developed into something of their own that, had circumstances been different, would have developed into what you see in the twenty-sixth parallel."

"So what? What need have I of this?"

"If what Zeruel has told me is to be taken as truth, you've returned Robin Sena to her place in Heaven, after she assisted in the transportation of Yui Ikari and Kyoko Sohryu and helped you in destroying the Evangelions with Heaven's Fire."

"Yes."

"And the No-Life King and No-Life Queen have had their bonds to humanity broken, whatever limits the Hellsing family set upon them destroyed, and now they roam the darkness of the night together, as true Nosferatu. Yet, to my surprise, I've found that they still continue the work of their previous master. Why?"

"For one who is as old and as vain as Alucard, those vampires that exist now are nothing close to the true breed. To him, and to his wife, they are FREAKs." Samhain's grin was absolutely feral. "He will hunt them down and destroy them."

"I see," said Tabrias. "And what, of your Esper?"

"The Diablos has been trapped in a lamp and sent to a world not far from Sephiroth's. I believe he will find… kinship in a warrior of the gunblade. A boy named Squall Leonhart."

"Ah yes," Tabrias looked up towards the stars. "Sephiroth. How is he?"

"A bad memory."

"That is all to be said then. You have no servants, no allies, nor the companionship of the mortals below. God or not, Samhain, you have been human for over a decade, it's bound to affect the way you think both of yourself and them."

"So?"

"So take the twenty-sixth parallel, Celtic God of Death." The orb floated to Samhain's side and remained there. "And do with it what you will. There is nothing more that can be done now."

"No, there really isn't is there?" Samhain looked towards a particularly bright pair of stars. "Does she even remember?"

"Even I cannot see that, Samhain and I know better than to ask as do you."

"Hurmph." Samhain walked away, the orb following after him and his scythe held tightly in his hand. "I guess I can exist with that."

"Samhain," called Tabrias. "If she did remember, what would you do?"

Samhain paused, standing for what could have been a moment of infinity before he unfolded his wings. "I don't know…" With that, the Celtic God took off to his realm of existence with Tabrias watching him as he went.

"It'll be better," said the Angel of Alternatives. "You'll see."

"Will he?" asked the one who was once known as Rei Ayanami now better to be called Eve. "Or will I?" She faded back to her star.

"If only you both knew." Tabrias smiled sadly. "If only I knew."

* * *

_It Is Finished____…_

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End file.
